When I first learned about the Dead Or Alive series, it was while perusing the pages of Electronic Gaming Monthly Magazine; the editors were openly salivating at the overtly 'jiggly' nature of the female fighters in the game. This was a few years back when the first game hit the arcades and was then ported to the Sony PlayStation.

Much like Thom, Advance Wars reminds me of many games I've played in the past, but none on the PC. A couple of classic console names that come to mind are Military Madness and Shining Force, as well as more recent efforts like Vandal Hearts or even Final Fantasy Tactics to a certain extent. Replace the medieval fantasy characters with planes and tanks, and you're basically set.

When I first saw the score Ben gave Zombie Revenge, I thought two things: The new guy is out to prove something and he didn't bother to play through the game thoroughly. That's because I had relatively high expectations ever since I heard that Sega was going to be publishing it.

On the surface, Carrier appears to be nothing more then a pure rip-off of Capcom's groundbreaking Resident Evil series. Resident Evil defined many elements in what is now known as the survival-horror genre and Carrier isn't shy about mimicking it. Almost all the setups are near identical. In Carrier, players take control of Jack Ingles and Jessifer Manning (only after beating the game), a guy-girl duo part a special investigative unit known as SPARC.

No game echoes this sentiment clearer than Sega's Zombie Revenge, a shoot-'em-up, beat-'em-up arcade brawler with zombies and gore to spare. Though the game does have its moments, there's nothing here that hasn't been tried before. Zombie Revenge just changes the scenery a bit, adding a Resident Evil-esque theme to a pretty basic formula.

In the end, the graphics and sound may be lacking, but Smackdown! shows up where it counts the most, in the amount of features and the rock-solid gameplay. It's not without a bit of irony that at a time when wrestling game developers are trying to complicate a player's actions in a misguided attempt to create some sort of wrestling simulation, Smackdown! manages to do just that with a far simpler style.

Code of Conduct

Comments are subject to approval/deletion based on the following criteria:
1) Treat all users with respect.
2) Post with an open-mind.
3) Do not insult and/or harass users.
4) Do not incite flame wars.
5) Do not troll and/or feed the trolls.
6) No excessive whining and/or complaining.